All India Chess Federation & Humpy Koneru made peace

“I have now started working on my game after such a long time and will be playing in a tournament shortly”

Koneru Humpy, India’s most accomplished female chess player, is all set for her comeback after being away from the game for 15 months.

“I have now started working on my game after such a long time and will be playing in a tournament shortly,” she told Sportstar over phone from her residence at Vijayawada on Sunday.

Humpy is also looking forward to playing in the Chess Olympiad to be held from September 23 at Batumi, Georgia; it will be her first since 2006. The All India Chess Federation (AICF) had on Saturday decided to include her in the Indian team, despite her recent, prolonged inactivity.

It has to be said that it is one of the best moves the AICF has made in recent times. Not just because it took note of the fact that Humpy had stayed away from the chessboard for a long period because of childbirth. But more importantly, because it decided to move ahead and chose not to dwell on the past.

Thaw in relations

The AICF and Humpy haven’t had the smoothest of relations over the years. The relation had deteriorated so much that the federation had once asked the world governing body FIDE to take action against her.